The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for substrate treatments using plasma such as, for example, plasma assisted processing for antifouling coating depositions, cleaning, sterilization or the like. In particular, the present invention relates to plasma creation for treatment or deposition in hollow substrates having large aspect ratio such as flat boxes, small diameter tubes . . .
Hollow substrates with a large aspect ratio are commonly used in various technological fields such as catheters or endoscopes for medical materials and packaging for food or pharmaceutical applications. The expression xe2x80x9clarge aspect ratioxe2x80x9d means that the hollow substrate has at least one dimension that is much larger than another one, and more particularly that the depth of the substrate cavity is much larger than a dimension of the substrate aperture. FIG. 7 shows two examples of hollow substrates which have a large aspect ratio L/a, where L is the depth of the substrate cavity and a is the smallest dimension of the substrate aperture. A tube 30 comprises an inner cavity having a large depth L with respect to the diameter a of the tube. Large aspect ratio substrates may also have a form of a flat box 31 which exhibits a little aperture height a in comparison with its cavity depth L.
In these above applications, plasma treatment or deposition is useful notably for combined cleaning, sterilization and deposition (PECVD) operations for medical materials or barrier coatings and sterilization treatments for food or pharmaceutical packaging. The plasma treatment methods are numerous and various, for example, the surface of a substrate can be modified by plasma treatment in order to increase or decrease its wettability.
In all the case, whatever the result expected (deposition, etching . . . ), the plasma processing is obtained from plasma creation.
A conventional method for creating plasma consists of submitting a process gas containing reactive species to an electric field which ionizes the process gas by accelerating electrons. FIG. 8 shows a classical embodiment allowing capacitive plasma creation in a substrate. A substrate 50 contains a process gas. The substrate is flowed by an electric field 53 created between two electrodes 51 and 52 which are supplied by a power supply 54. However, in the case of a small diameter tube, the plasma cannot be ignited with the electric field perpendicular to the diameter of the tube, because electrons cannot be accelerated up to the ionization potential (the trajectories are stopped by the tube walls). However, even if a suitable configuration can be found, the pressure needed for a capacitive discharge can lead to thermal damages of the substrate walls (case of polymers) and the gas dissociation is limited, which reduces the treatment possibilities. Moreover, the pressure range for a capacitive discharge is limited, which creates problems of control inside the tube itself.
Another traditional method used in plasma treatment inside a hollow substrate is the diffusion of active species created outside. As can be seen on FIG. 9, an external plasma source 40 creates active species diffused inside the hollow parts of a substrate 41 having a cavity length L and a thickness or diameter a. However, such a diffusion results in a non uniformity of the treatment or deposition process along the substrate because of consumption of active species during diffusion. In other words, in using an external plasma source for treatment inside the hollow parts of a substrate, the plasma diffusion density is decreased along the substrate length L.
Alternatively, a method for plasma treatment can be based on inductively coupled plasma. As illustrated in FIG. 10, the plasma is created inside a substrate 61 with a classical tangential electromagnetic flux generated by a current flowing in a coil 60 in the direction of an arrow 63. In flowing in the coil 60, the current produces a magnetic field 64 which generates an electric field 62 inside the substrate. The plasma production is realized from a process gas contained inside the substrate and by acceleration of the electrons along the electric field 62 tangential to the substrate.
FIG. 11 shows a matched embodiment for implementing the inductively coupled plasma method inside a tube 71. In this embodiment, a coil 70 surrounds the tube 71 and carries a current in a direction of an arrow 72 so as to produce a magnetic field 74 which generate an electric field 73. The plasma is thus created in the tube by accelerating the electrons according to the direction of the electric field 73.
However, the efficiency of such configurations depends on a ratio R between the diameter or thickness a of the hollow substrate and the plasma skin depth             δ      :      R        =          a      δ        ,
where the plasma skin depth xcex4 is determined by the process parameters, that is to say plasma density, gas nature and pressure, power, electron temperature, which are inherent to the required treatment or deposition. In this configuration, to obtain a suitable efficiency, the ratio R must be greater than 2 or 3. Accordingly, this criterion excludes such a process for low thickness or diameter hollow substrate, in particular when the thickness or diameter is lower than the plasma skin depth (a less than xcex4).
In view of such aspects, an object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus in which the above-mentioned problems can be solved. In other words, an object is to provide a method and an apparatus which allow a plasma treatment of hollow substrates in uniform way all-over the inside parts of the substrates.
To this end, there is provided a method for plasma treatment of a hollow substrate made of a non-conductive material in which a plasma is generated from a process gas inside the substrate, characterised in that the plasma generation comprises the step of producing through the substrate a magnetic field substantially perpendicular to a direction of a substrate depth L.
Thus according to the present invention, all the inside parts of a thin hollow substrate may be plasma treated uniformly with a great efficiency and with a high flexibility in pressure adjustment. Indeed, the simplest description of the inductive coupling between an induction source and a plasma is a circuit model in which the induction source is the primary winding of a transformer and the plasma the secondary winding. The plasma is represented by an inductance and a resistance, as a function of parameters such as power, gas pressure, plasma density . . . . In this model, the current induced in the plasma flows within a skin depth xcex4 given by the following equation (1):       δ    =                  (                  2          μωσ                )                    1        2              ,
where xcexc is the permeability of the medium, xcfx89 the excitation frequency and "sgr" the plasma electrical conductivity. The electrical conductivity "sgr" is directly proportional to the plasma density and can be written according to the equation       σ    =                  n        ⁢                  xe2x80x83                ⁢                  e          2                                      m          c                ⁢                  (                      υ            +            jω                    )                      ,
where n is the plasma density, e and me the electronic charge and mass respectively and "ugr" the electron collision frequency.
According to Maxwell equation, the current in the plasma decreases in the skin depth xcex4 as       1    e    .
As the current decreases in proportion as it penetrates into the plasma, the skin depth xcex4 is thus an important parameter in plasma treatment or deposition because the value xcex4 determines the proportion according to which the current will decrease.
The efficiency of the plasma treatment versus a ratio   R  =      a    δ  
for a classical tangential flux exhibits that for a given plasma skin depth xcex4 (plasma conductivity, density . . . ), the suitable efficiency is obtained with R=3. Accordingly, referring to equation (1), for a thin plasma thickness a, it is necessary to increase the excitation frequency xcfx89 to decrease xcex4 in order to have an optimum coupling efficiency.
The typical operating frequency delivered by the power supply devices commonly used is 13.56 MHz. Increasing the excitation frequency will require to develop or use expensive further power supply devices which are not suitable for the applications thought in the present invention.
The solution proposed by the present invention is to produce a magnetic flux which flows through a non-conductive hollow substrate in a direction perpendicular to the substrate depth. Accordingly, the magnetic flux creates an electric field in the whole substrate which ionizes the gas in the whole substrate volume resulting in a uniform plasma treatment of the inside parts of the substrate. For given plasma conditions (similar to those assumed for the classical tangential flux), the efficiency of the plasma treatment versus the ratio   R  =      a    δ  
exhibits greater values for small plasma thickness (R≈0.3) and therefore is suitable for plasma treatment or deposition in thin hollow substrates. In this case, the increase of the excitation frequency xcfx89 is not required for reaching the optimum efficiency for thin hollow substrate treatment.
Preferably, the magnetic field is created by means of first and second opposite coil arrangements carrying a current of a same direction.
A magnetic flux is uniformly produced through the substrate by means of two opposite coil arrangements which sandwiches the substrate.
According to an aspect of the invention, the process gas comprises reactive species.
In this case, the plasma treatment correspond to a diffusion of reactive species inside the substrate so as to react with the substrate and remove material therefrom.
According to another aspect of the invention, the process gas comprises material elements to be deposited.
The method is used for material deposition on the parts of the substrate.
However, the process gas may contains both reactive species and material elements to be deposited resulting in a combined effect of the plasma treatment.
Advantageously, the method may further comprises the step of setting a pressure inside the substrate independently of a pressure adjusted outside of the substrate.
By setting the pressure of the process gas independently inside and outside of the substrate, the plasma treatment can be achieved independently inside and outside of the substrate, at different rates or with selectivity during the same operation.
Typically, the current (I) is delivered at a frequency around 10 kHz to 100 MHz, preferably at a frequency of 13.56 MHz.
The perpendicular magnetic flux allows the coils arrangements to be supplied with common power supply frequencies while keeping an optimum efficiency of the thin hollow substrate plasma treatment.
Advantageously, the first and second coil arrangements comprise a magnetic core.
The magnetic flux can be enhanced by use of a magnetic pole in addition to the coil arrangements.
According to an aspect of the invention, the substrate is a hollow substrate with a large aspect ratio (L/a).
As the good efficiency criterion for perpendicular magnetic flux is R≈0.3, the method according to the invention is suitable for plasma treatment of the parts of hollow substrates which exhibits small aperture height with respect to the depth of their cavity.
More particularly, the depth (L) is the largest dimension of the substrate.
The present invention also provides an apparatus for plasma treatment of a non-conductive hollow substrate, comprising generation means for generating a plasma in the substrate, characterised in that the generation means comprise electromagnetic means for producing through the substrate a magnetic flux perpendicular to a direction of a substrate depth (L).
Accordingly, the apparatus produces a magnetic flux through the substrate with generation means in such a way that the magnetic flux is perpendicular all along the direction of the substrate depth.
More specifically, the generation means comprise a plasma chamber provided with two oppositely facing field admission windows and, as electromagnetic means, first and second opposite coil arrangements located on an outer surface of the first and second windows respectively, the first and second coil arrangements being connected to power supply means such that a current (I) of a same direction flows simultaneously in the first and second coil arrangements.
Thus, a hollow substrate may be entirely plasma treated in the apparatus by means of a plasma chamber which allows a process gas to be maintained inside and outside the parts of the substrate and by means of the coils arrangements which produce a magnetic flux creating an electric field in the whole volume of the chamber.
According to an aspect of the invention, the substrate is an hollow substrate with a large aspect ratio (L/a). The depth (L) is the largest dimension of the substrate.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the first and second coil arrangements comprises each an inductor having a serpentine form.
Such a configuration of the coil arrangement is advantageous for producing a magnetic flux perpendicular to the substrate in the entire spaced defined between the coil arrangements.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the first and second coil arrangements comprise each an inductor having a superimposed serpentine form.
This configuration is advantageous for increasing the power of the electromagnetic energy produced by the coil arrangements.
Advantageously, the first and second coil arrangements further comprise a magnetic core associated with the inductors of said coil arrangements, the magnetic core presenting a unipolar pole face structure adapted to be applied against or close to the filed admission windows.
Hence, the magnetic flux can be enhanced by use of a magnetic pole in addition to the coil arrangements.
Typically, the power supply means deliver power at a frequency around 10 kHz to 100 MHz, preferably at a frequency of 13.56 MHz.